MIDNIGHT DIVINE (The Helio Trilogy Book 1) (12 page)

It's deathly quiet except
for the
pitter-patter
of rain outside and the crackle of the fire. I go to
the closet and open my hard shell guitar case that keeps my acoustic safe. I
lift my guitar and bring it back to the rug in front of the fireplace where I
sit cross-legged. The light of the fire entrances my mind as I hold my guitar
beneath my languid arms. Fantasies of being with Jack flood my psyche again.
Jack kissing me. His hands pulling my jeans down as he trails kisses down my
stomach. Jack pulling my shirt over my head and kissing me under my right
breast, over my ribs, and trailing down my tribal tattoo that frames my side
to cover the scars
from my wreck
.

Coming back to reality, I
shudder my dirty mind away.
Stop it, Ivy!
I chastise myself. I shake my
head and position myself better to play my guitar, in need to keep my mind off
of him. Instead of working on material for The Red, I decide to play some
covers. I enjoy playing cover songs. They
’
re fun and easy. You
don’t have to think too hard, which makes them more enjoyable, and it's a good
feeling when others know the words and sing along.

I'm not in the mood for my
usual rock ballads, so I start to play a slow Indie rendition of
“
Safety Dance
”
. I'm humming along
when Jack comes back in the room with his mother. I stop playing, feeling utter
embarrassment with still having stage fright issues. “How are you feeling?” I
ask Evelyn from my spot on the floor.

“Not as well as yesterday,
but I’ll be alright.” She takes a seat in one of the high back chairs.

Jack lounges in front of me
with his legs extended and crosses them at the ankles, leaning back on his
hands. “What are you playing?”

My cheeks warm. “Um… Men
Without Hats?” He gives me a confused look. “Um…
“
Safety Dance
”
?” I try to clarify. When he still shows no
recognition, I sing the first two lines of the chorus so he can recognize the
song.

His eyes light up, “Oh,
yeah!”

“You can play that on
guitar?” Evelyn questions with fascination.

“Um… Yes, ma’am. Actually,
I play it differently than the original. It’s exceptionally softer.”

“Well, now I’m intrigued,”
she professes and gestures for me to play for her.

I sigh and close my eyes to
imagine I'm playing
for myself
. I begin to strum the
cords lightly and start to sing. Keeping my eyes closed, I focus on the warmth
of the fire against my skin, the
rhythm
of rain
crafting
the
back
beat, and the lyrics
of the song lulling me into a calming relief. I open my eyes as I strum the
last decrescendo and let it resonate, noticing the smiles on Jack and Evelyn's
faces.

“Wow,” Jack whispers in
awe.

“I have to admit, I never
expected it to sound like that.
It gives it a
different meaning by turning it into a ballad. It was lovely, dear.”
Evelyn smiles, and the lights flicker back on.

“Thank you,” I express as I
blush with shyness.

“And listen, Ivy,” Evelyn
leans forward in her chair and cups my left cheek. “I want you to know, I
really enjoy having you here. I don’t want you to be a stranger. You can come
stay with us anytime. Even if you would just want to come take Maximus for a
ride. You are always welcome here.”

“Thank you. I would like
that.” I'm on the verge of tears when Evelyn strokes my cheek and pats my arm.
I'm touched to the core that she
openly
welcomes me
into her home like
family
. I feel myself becoming attached to her even
more. Just like Jack.

Jack turns to his mother,
“Are you ready to go back to your room?”

Ms. Roe gives her son a
dubious grin. “Yes, Jack. That would be ok. I’ll get some rest and let you two
visit.”

I blush again as they both
stand to leave the room. “Goodnight, Ms. Roe.”

“Goodnight, dear,” she
replies, and Jack walks her back downstairs.

I haven’t felt part of a
real family since my parents told me I was adopted. And now, I’m getting
attached to Jack’s mother who's going to die! Of a spider bite, of all things!
I stand with my guitar and take it back to its place
in the closet
, intent on asking Jack about what kind of spider bit his mother
. I find my bottle of Jäger and take a swig of its
dark liquid.

“What are you doing?” Jack
startles me from the doorway of the closet
, making me choke on my drink
. He looks at the bottle in my hand.

I replace the cap and put
it back on a shelf in front of me. “Nothing.”

“It doesn’t look like
nothing. What’s bothering you?”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t
want to talk about it right now.”

“Right now? Or Ever?” his
voice softens with concern.

I walk to him, wrap my arms
around his waist
,
and lay my head on his chest. “Just not right
now.”

Jack tilts my chin up to
look me in the eyes. “When you’re ready then.” I nod, and he bends down to kiss
me with tenderness. “Goodnight, Sunshine.”

“Goodnight, Jack.” Jack
goes back to his room, and I pick up the bottle again. I sit in front of the
dying fire and fall asleep in the chair after two more sips from the bottle.

I dread going to my Lit
class and seeing Trey there. The thought of him gives me the creeps.
Don’t
even look him in the eye. Don’t talk to him. If he tries to talk to you, just
ignore him.
I find comfort that Jack's walking me to class.
Maybe Trey
will see Jack and leave me alone. Maybe he’ll skip class. That would be even better.
We approach the English building, hand in hand, and I spot Trey talking to a
group of guys. I adjust the strap on my backpack and pull my phone out to
distract me from his gaze. Jack’s grip tightens, and I look up. Trey's walking
toward
s
us.

“Ivy,” Trey calls out. I
pull Jack’s hand to follow me past Trey and ignore him. Jack’s hand grows
scalding hot, I almost pull away. “Ivy, wait,” Trey calls from behind us.
Without warning, Jack spins us around. As he lets go of my hand, his fist
connects with Trey’s face. Trey flies backwards into a tree twenty yards away.
Everyone turns their attention to us in shock of Jack’s strength. Trey attempts
to get up as blood drips from his mouth.

“Stay down,” Jack seethes
through his gritted teeth so low I don’t know if he's speaking to Trey or just
speaking aloud to himself. Both fists clench to his sides again. Trey pushes
himself up and charges at Jack. Jack sees him coming and brings his elbow down
hard into Trey’s spine. As Trey twists in pain, Jack grabs Trey’s shoulders and
uses his leg to kick Trey’s feet out from under him. Trey lands on his back
.
Jack grabs him by the shirt and punches him in the
face again. The force of the connection cracks and echoes in the air around us
with a ripple of static. “I said, ‘stay down’,” he repeats to him. Trey makes a
gurgling sound in response. “Tell
Beleth
to back off. He
can’t win this. And if I ever see you so much as look in her direction, I’ll
make sure you never surface again.” Jack lets go of Trey’s shirt, and Trey’s
head hits the ground with a
thud
. My hands cover my mouth in shock of
Jack’s outburst. “Come on.” He pulls my hands away from my mouth and leads me
away from the scene. “You're skipping class today.”

I'm speechless the entire
walk back to Jack’s car.
What the fuck just happened? I should have known
Jack would want to hurt him after what he did to me. How the hell is he that
strong? And how the hell is Trey even alive after blows like that? I’ve always
been so independent though… No one has ever stuck up for me…
My heart
flutters.
Because I’ve never let them,
I think. I'm not angry with Jack
for sticking up for me. In all reality, it turns me on! Jack’s message to Trey
jumps into the forefront of my mind.
Trey is one of
Beleth
’s goons! It’s clear
Beleth
wants something to do with me, but what?

I pull Jack to a stop at
his car and step in front of him before he can open my door, “Jack—”

He cuts me off before I can
speak up, “I’m sorry, Ivy. I know you prefer to take care of yourself. I’ve
seen that first hand. But when he said your name, I was flooded with thoughts
of what he did to you and what I know he wanted to do to you. I couldn’t stop
myself. He deserved it and—”

This time, I cut him off
with my lips on his. I linger on my tiptoes with his shirt in my fists. When I
pull back to look at his beautiful green eyes under his ball cap, I grin.
Happiness consumes me.

“You’re not mad?” he
marvels.

I look down at my feet and
dig a toe into the ground. “I know that I should be, but it had the opposite effect.
I’ve always been so adamant about being independent and taking care of myself.
I’ve never let anyone take up for me. I don’t even know how you managed to
throw him as far as you did. I see why people feel intimidated around you. And
watching you protect me… I was… honored.” I sigh, and he tilts my chin up to
look me in the eyes.

“I would do anything for
you, Sunshine,” he smirks.

Jack drives us back to the
estate, since we're now skipping classes the rest of the day. He goes into the
kitchen to make sandwiches for us, so I take my things up to my room. Coming
back down the stairs, I wonder how Ms. Roe's feeling today. I round the
banister to the first floor and walk down the hallway to her room. I stop
outside of her door getting ready to knock.
Maybe I shouldn’t bother her.
She could be sleeping… I’ll just check on her and go.
I give a soft triple
knock on her door with the knuckle of my middle finger, hoping if she's asleep
I won't wake her.

“Come in!” she calls from
behind the thick wooden door. I turn the knob and peek my head inside. “Ivy!
Come in. Come in,” she waves me over from her bed.

“I just wanted to see how
you’re doing. Jack's making lunch. Are you hungry?” I offer.

“I’m alright, dear. You two
go ahead and eat,” she declines.

“Ok.”

“Why are you two not in
class?” she
asks
.

“Uh… my class got canceled,
and Jack’s let out early,” I fib, not wanting to worry her.

“Oh. Well, would you like
to sit with me and play some cards? Solitaire has become tedious,” Evelyn pats
the side of her bed for me to sit with her.

“Sure,” I agree with a
smile and sit on the bed facing her.

Evelyn sweeps the cards up
from her lap and begins to shuffle them. “What do you like to play?”

“Um… I don’t know how to
play many card games. I know Go Fish, Slap Jack, and Gin Rummy.” I wince at my
inexperience.

“Mm… How about Gin Rummy?”
she suggests.

“Ok,” I agree.

Evelyn shuffles the cards
just as a professional dealer would and deals out twenty cards, alternating
them to each of our piles. The twenty-first card is turned face up to start the
discard pile, and she lays the stock pile face down beside it. I pick up my
cards and sort them in my hand to see them better.

We play in silence for a
few minutes before Jack comes in.
“There you are.”
He
carries two plates
with sandwiches over to the bed and kisses me on top of the head.

“Hey.” I smile as he hands
me my lunch. It's just how I
like it
, with all the
workings of a regular sandwich, save for the meat. Jack pulls a chair near the
bed and sits down to eat.

Evelyn and I continue our
game. “Why don’t you tell me more about yourself, Ivy?” Evelyn inquires.

I hesitate and glance at
Jack. “Um… Well, I grew up in California.”

“Oh, wow! You’re a long way
from home. What part of California?” she insists as she focuses on her cards.

“L.A.,” I mumble and draw a
card.

Her tone is surprised and
quizzical, “
L.A.?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I answer.
Evelyn searches my face as if she's trying to figure something out. I glance
over at Jack again and back to her. “What?” My voice shakes with uneasiness.

She turns her head towards
Jack without taking her eyes off of me. “Your eyes… Jack… her eyes are violet
and green,” she whispers.
Why is that important?

“I told you she's
different.” Jack pauses. “She has some of our qualities, but there are
differences I don’t recognize.”

So, she is
like him… Like us?

“Are you like Jack?” I
mutter with shyness
.

“You said you were
adopted?” She ignores my question, but I nod in answer to hers. “How old were
you when you were adopted?”

“I was a baby. I didn’t
even know I was adopted until I turned sixteen.” Emotions begin to fester in my
chest, making it ache with tightness.

“Do you know who your birth
parents are?” she prods me for more information.

“No. I never cared. If they
were willing to give me up, they probably didn’t want me reaching out to them,”
I tell her with all honesty.

“Hmm… Do you know
what
you are?” She chances a glance at Jack who shakes his head.

“No. Jack said he couldn’t
tell me what’s going on. I’m starting to freak out now. So, if you know
something… please tell me!” I'm on the verge of tears, pleading with them. “I
need to know.”

“There could be
consequences, Ivy,” Jack reminds me.

“Not for
her
. Only
for the person who tells her.” Evelyn looks to Jack with a knowing smile.

“Mother,” Jack starts.

Evelyn fans her hand in the
air and rolls her eyes at him. “Pish-posh, Jack. I won’t be around much longer
anyways.” Jack’s face falls with an overwhelming sadness in his eyes at her
statement. Evelyn hesitates in deep thought. “Ivy… There are beings in this
world that may be hard for you to fathom. For the most part, they’re hard to
discern from every day humans. How much has Jack told you already?”

“Not as much as I would
like. But, I know that he's extremely strong, he heals remarkably fast, as I
do, and he thinks the dreams I’ve been having are omens I need to decipher,” I
tell her.

“Omens?” she echoes in
surprise.

“Yes, ma’am.”
I feel
sick to my stomach. I’m going to vomit.

Evelyn looks to Jack in
question. The fear in his eyes seeps into my already aching heart. “Some things
may be easier to understand if they’re shown instead of voiced. Which do you
prefer?”

I answer without
hesitation, “Show me.” I need to know what's going on with me, and Evelyn seems
to be the only one willing to tell me.

“Ok. Jack, will you help me
walk?” Without a word, Jack helps his mother out of the bed. There's a faint
shake in her legs as she tries to stand. “Right this way.”

I trail behind Evelyn down
her corridor, Jack supporting her weight as she struggles to keep upright. It's
the first time I've witnessed how ill she truly is, and I feel horrible for
asking her to exert herself for me. We come to an enormous set of dark cherry
wood doors with ornate carvings of large feathered wings at rest. She pulls a
skeleton key from her pocket and places it into a keyhole under the silver
knobs. As if the room has been sealed air tight, the door unlocks with a click
and a gentle whisper of air around its frame. Evelyn looks over her shoulder to
me, and I nod to her that I'm ready.

We enter a considerably
large
,
circular study. Books line the three story walls on
either side of us. Behind the oversized, dark cherry, wood desk before us hangs
a twelve foot Renaissance oil painting. I can’t take my eyes off of the hellish
orchestra. The swirling tempestuous violence depicted practically pours off of
the canvas. I can hear the grating noise of the battle scene between the angels
in the painting as my head fills with yelling, howling, and the low drone of a
war horn.

It’s the fall of angels.
I’ve never seen angels like this though. Their wings should be white, right?
At the apex of the painting, what I presume to be an
angel, is descending from the Light of Heaven. His dark green wings are
extended in full as he charges the other angels below him. His armor matches
the color of his wings and his vengeful eyes. A red sash billows around his
body and behind him as he raises his sword high in anticipation for a strike.
Other angels with wings of various colors and shades follow his lead into
battle. The angels below the charge coming from Heaven are falling
backwards—lifeless birds—into the darkness at the base of the canvas.

Evelyn stands with her arms
crossed beside me, letting me take in the vision before
us
in silence. A tear runs down my cheek. I can’t
understand why I'm crying. The painting is effecting me on a level I can’t
comprehend. I wipe the tear from my cheek before I turn to her, “Is this what
you wanted to show me? Are you an angel?” She smiles with a deliberate
inclination. I whip my head to see Jack on the other side of me. “And you?”
Jack nods his head as well. I can see the apprehension in his countenance,
waiting for my reaction.

My vision darkens. I'm
going to faint.
That’s not possible. None of this is possible. Why don’t
they have wings? I’m dreaming. This is stupid. Wake up, Ivy! Wake up!
I
hunch over with my hands on my knees, hyperventilating.
I can’t breathe.
This is insane! If they're angels, and that's a big if, Jack said I was like
him… but different. What does that make me? I don’t understand.

Jack comes to my side to
try and comfort me. “Just breathe, Ivy. I know it’s a lot to take in—”

“—I don’t understand,” I
whisper. “You don’t have wings. You curse, smoke, and drink…”
Is he a fallen
angel?
“Are you one of the Fallen? What does that make me? I’m not an
angel.”

“Ivy. Slow down. I know you
have a lot of questions. How about you sit down?” I nod my head
vigorously
and take a seat in one of the chairs facing the desk.
Jack sits down across from me as Evelyn stands to his side. “You have nothing to
be afraid of, Ivy. We’re not Fallen. I can assure you. And yes, I smoke, drink,
and curse. But that only became habit after trying to disguise myself as a
normal human for so long. It doesn’t have any actual effect on my body. I can’t
get cancer, and I can drink as much as I want because my metabolism's too high
to become fully intoxicated. As for the wings…,” he looks up to his mother for
help to explain. “We have the ability to conceal them under our shoulder
blades.”